Traditional Faroese Turf House

Turf house in Kunoy Village, on the island of Kunoy.

Turf roofs are traditional Scandinavian living roofs. They're fairly common throughout the Faroe Islands, and you can even find them in the middle of the bigger towns as well. Overall though, there's a mix of traditional turf houses and houses with more modern construction techniques.

There are a number of environmental and cost benefits to having a turf house, such as reduced heating costs and longer lifespan of the roof overall. From a practical standpoint though, you now have to maintain your roof more so than modern roofs. They are however, quite cool to look at.